Pound price: Pound dives after Boris Johnson resigns

In a statement, Downing Street said: 'The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs'.

Many took the opportunity to make fun of the former Brexit Secretary over his short tenure and the timing of his decision to quit.

It follows concerns raised over Theresa May's Brexit plan which she forward at Chequers on Friday.

She said she and the two departed ministers "do not agree about the best way of delivering our shared commitment to honouring the result of the referendum" in which voters opted to leave the EU.

In this image from TV, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gives a statement in parliament Monday, July 9, 2018.

Rebuffing claims that her proposals make too many concessions to the EU, May said her "smooth and orderly Brexit" would leave Britain free to make its own laws and trade deals.

May's Cabinet agreed to the plan after a 12-hour meeting Friday, but government unity began to fray within hours.

Brexit-backing lawmakers have been angered by May's plans, saying they will keep Britain too close to the European Union and limit its ability to strike new trade deals.

The withdrawal agreement - the prerequisite for an EU-UK trade deal and a transition period - needs to be agreed by the end of the year the latest in order to have enough time for ratification in the EU and the UK before Britain leaves the EU next March. The timetable looks increasingly optimistic.

The European Commission declined to comment on Mr Davis's exit but Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said he hoped a change in faces might lead to a change in policy.

From the shock Brexit vote to top ministers quitting government, here are the milestones on Britain's rocky road out of the European Union.

The following day, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum and led the campaign to remain within the European Union, resigns as a result of the shock vote.

May appointed staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker Dominic Raab to replace Davis, who insisted he did not want his resignation to become a rallying cry for the prime minister's ouster.

The prime minister's official spokesman said she would fight any attempt to oust her as prime minister if the required 48 Tory MPs called for a contest.

"I'd have to deliver this".

He told the BBC that he thought the United Kingdom was giving away "too much, too easily" and predicted that the European Union would be demanding more concessions in talks. "That's not a tenable position".

The resignations of two of her most senior Cabinet ministers comes amid growing talk of a leadership challenge.

Leaving the gathering, leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said he did not think there would be a confidence vote over Mrs May. He urged May to abandon her plans and take a tougher line with Brussels.